Will a Skylake i5 6500 3.6ghz CPU hold back a gtx1080?

[Lyfer]

Friend bought an Asus desktop a while back and it has a i5 6500 3.6ghz CPU currently with a gtx 950. He got a bunch of Amazon gift cards and wanted a new GPU. He plays a lot of shooters on console but wants to join PC master race. He will be getting a GSync monitor down the road but obviously a new PSU would be needed to drive the card.


Would the CPU bottleneck a Gtx 1080 in most new triple A titles at 1080-1440p?

 

[escrow4]

Yes, but not as much as older CPUs. I'd rather much an i5 to a 480 or 1070 than going straight to the top. Plus, what PSU?

 

[Lyfer]

Yes, but not as much as older CPUs. I'd rather much an i5 to a 480 or 1070 than going straight to the top. Plus, what PSU?

The stock PSU is some Fortron 400w OEM unit. He already knows he'll need a new PSU and doesn't have much inside other than a wifi card and a crucial 256gb SSD that he added so I assume a corsair or Evga 600w unit should fill the bill?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Depends on the game and settings of course. But I agree with escrow, that a better match for a non-overclockable i5 would be a 1070 or 480.

 

[Lyfer]

Depends on the game and settings of course. But I agree with escrow, that a better match for a non-overclockable i5 would be a 1070 or 480.

I already recommended that and advised the R9 480 8gb is likely going to be the best bang for the buck plus a nice 144hz 1080p display. But he's stuck in the 1080 gravy train. The MB and system is completely OEM and everything looks standard and I'm sure I could install an i7 6700 without much hassle.

 

[escrow4]

The stock PSU is some Fortron 400w OEM unit. He already knows he'll need a new PSU and doesn't have much inside other than a wifi card and a crucial 256gb SSD that he added so I assume a corsair or Evga 600w unit should fill the bill?

600w will do it, although with an added SSD, a new PSU, a new GPU, and if you upgrade the CPU - should have built a box in the first place. For the PSU, this will do:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182330

 

[2is]

I think you'll be fine. I would not get a 1070 over a 1080. Skylake i5 is plenty powerful enough to see an appreciable performance difference with the 1080 over 1070. You may be cpu limited in games like csgo, but you're talking about well over 200fps there anyway.

 

[escrow4]

I think you'll be fine. I would not get a 1070 over a 1080. Skylake i5 is plenty powerful enough to see an appreciable performance difference with the 1080 over 1070. You may be cpu limited in games like csgo, but you're talking about well over 200fps there anyway.

See Russian Sensation's posts a few weeks back - if it ain't an i7 over 4.0GHz you will be bottlenecked, especially in minimum FPS. Sure it won't be as bad as running some old Phenom but here is a difference, and getting a 1080 when you can't squeeze 100% out doesn't make much sense.

 

[Arachnotronic]

OP, your friend should be fine.

 

[2is]

See Russian Sensation's posts a few weeks back - if it ain't an i7 over 4.0GHz you will be bottlenecked, especially in minimum FPS. Sure it won't be as bad as running some old Phenom but here is a difference, and getting a 1080 when you can't squeeze 100% out doesn't make much sense.

If he can get more performance out of a 1080 then a 1070 it makes perfect sense.

 

[ShintaiDK]

It will be fine with a 1080

 

[lyssword]

1070 makes more sense for 1080/1440p anyways.. But if you got a nice 3000mhz ddr4 with that i5 it should do just fine.

 

[Arachnotronic]

1070 makes more sense for 1080/1440p anyways.. But if you got a nice 3000mhz ddr4 with that i5 it should do just fine.

Many people like to hold on to their GPUs for 4-5 years. Games only get more demanding over time so I see no reason not to buy the best GPU that you are willing to pay for at a given time.

I know it's viewed as economically savvy to buy, say, a $300ish GPU but upgrade more frequently, but a lot of people are really turned off by the idea of having to upgrade frequently. They want something that'll be great for as long as possible.

 

[lehtv]

On 1080p it will definitely bottleneck from time to time, on 1440p not so much. But I would rather buy GTX 1070 which is plenty fast for those resolutions. GTX 1080 costs 40% more but only performs 20% better

 

[2is]

Many people like to hold on to their GPUs for 4-5 years. Games only get more demanding over time so I see no reason not to buy the best GPU that you are willing to pay for at a given time.

I know it's viewed as economically savvy to buy, say, a $300ish GPU but upgrade more frequently, but a lot of people are really turned off by the idea of having to upgrade frequently. They want something that'll be great for as long as possible.

Agreed, heck even a 1 year old game like AC:Syndicate will bring a 1070 to its knees at 1440p. There's plenty of scenes where I drop to mid 30 fps on a 980Ti running at 1450mhz

 

[sm625]

A 1080 + skylake i5 will outperform a 1070 + skylake i7 in most games but not all. As long this is generally true it is safe to say that you're not cpu bottlenecked.

I believe the new warhammer game would actually run faster on a i7+1070. It would be very close though.